Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) Shares Sold by Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lessened its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 53.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,534 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 58,888 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Danaher were worth $10,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DHR. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Danaher in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Danaher news, Chairman Steven M. Rales sold 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.74, for a total value of $245,925,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 3,105,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $611,036,665.92. This trade represents a 28.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher Paul Riley sold 15,805 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.00, for a total value of $3,129,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,005,442. This represents a 51.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Danaher from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. HSBC reduced their price objective on Danaher from $270.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Danaher from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Danaher from $240.00 to $248.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partners lifted their price target on Danaher from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.17.

Danaher Stock Performance

NYSE DHR opened at $200.51 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $192.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.40. Danaher Co. has a fifty-two week low of $171.00 and a fifty-two week high of $281.70.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.26. Danaher had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 24.85%.

About Danaher

Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services worldwide. The Biotechnology segments offers bioprocess technologies, consumables, and services that advance, accelerate, and integrate the development and manufacture of therapeutics; cell line and cell culture media development services; cell culture media, process liquids and buffers for manufacturing, chromatography resins, filtration technologies, aseptic fill finish; single-use hardware and consumables and services, such as the design and installation of full manufacturing suites; lab filtration, separation, and purification; lab-scale protein purification and analytical tools; reagents, membranes, and services; and healthcare filtration solutions.